Homeless activist targets Partido Popular in Madrid

• Activist blames PP for social-spending cuts that have left thousands homeless
• Removed from front of party offices by police, Lagarder Danciu vows to return

A homeless activist from southern Spain protesting in front of the national offices of the conservative governing Partido Popular (PP) party in Madrid last week has vowed to return to continue his protest, after having been ejected by police from the entrance to the party’s headquarters at the request of PP officials.

Lagarder Danciu, a self-described gay Romany anti-poverty and homeless activist from Andalucía, brought his campaign against poverty and homelessness in Spain to the nation’s capital on Thursday, standing outside the conservative party’s main offices in Madrid and using a bullhorn to denounce austerity measures and social spending cuts during the 2011-2015 government of PP Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy as responsible for job losses, evictions and poverty that have left thousands of Spaniards homeless over the past five years.

Removed within minutes of starting his protest by three squads of Madrid’s anti-disturbios police after complaints by PP officials that his presence obstructed the expected arrivals of important party leaders, Danciu says he will continue with his protests denouncing cuts to social spending in Andalucía and Extremadura and vowed to return to the PP’s downtown Madrid offices to continue his protest against the party’s policies.